Indian Institute of Mass Communication and TikTok collaborate to promote online safety

Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and Chinese short-form video platform TikTok have announced a partnership to train budding media professionals on existing industry wide challenges faced due to the enolving social media landscape in India.

Under this partnership, TikTok and IIMC will organise a series of workshops with the students and professors of IIMC across its six regional campuses starting August 26. These workshops will be implemented by Youth Ki Awaaz, India’s largest youth online community for social issues.

The workshops will feature a curriculum that incorporates insights and learnings shared by thought leaders from new media, internet-based companies and educational institutional community. They will look to address the following key themes:

Empowering millennials and sensitising them on responsible and safe use of the internet
Mobilising an engaged and active community of aspiring media professionals who are aware and informed about cybersecurity and ways to combat misinformation on the internet
Educating this community about their role in creating a safe and positive online environment

This initiative is a part of TikTok’s ongoing campaign to promote responsible online conduct among India’s digital citizens. The move was prompted by the fact that while social media has increasingly become the preferred medium for people to connect and socialise, lack of control on content is compromising information accuracy.

“With increasing internet access, the way Indians consume news and information is changing rapidly. We believe that as the media landscape evolves, there is a need to equip, and educate aspiring media professionals about their role as enablers of positive impact on society. Through this academic partnership, we aim to train the next generation of media professionals about the various nuances of news and information consumption on digital platforms" said KS Dhatwalia Director General, IIMC.

These workshops will be conducted across six IIMC campuses in India over the next 2 months starting from IIMC Delhi campus on August 26.